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Brooks on Beer: Hard cider making a comeback

Jay R. Brooks

For the Contra Costa Times

Posted:
07/17/2013 12:01:00 PM PDT

Cider is making a major comeback -- and I don't mean the juice that comes in small boxes with a straw. I'm referring to the fermented type, which in the U.S. is always called "hard cider," to distinguish it from the nonalcoholic juice.

Believe it or not, up until the mid-19th century, cider was the most popular alcoholic drink in this country. It was a Colonial mainstay because apple trees grew easily throughout New England. Johnny Appleseed walked the country planting apple trees so pioneers heading west could make cider in their new settlements.

That all changed in the decades following the 1840s, when pilsners arrived on these shores after taking Europe by storm. German immigrants built beer empires, and as the population moved west, settlers found that barley grew better than apples in the Midwest, too.

Hard cider, which taste is compared to a cross between apple juice and flat beer, is making a comeback. (AP Photo/CharlesKrupa)

Prohibition was hard on the brewing industry, but it was even harder on cider-makers. Prohibitionists burned entire orchards of cider apples. As a result, most apple growers planted sweeter apples that couldn't be used to make alcoholic cider, which made recovery after the 21st Amendment even more difficult.

In other countries, cider traditions flourished. Many of the best ciders come from England, France and Spain. Cider is also produced in Ireland, Germany, Scotland, Australia, New Zealand and other countries.

Stateside, cider began making a comeback in the 1980s, after wine coolers like Bartles & Jaymes hit it big, and other companies began looking for sweeter alcoholic drinks for that market. By the 1990s, hard ciders were selling briskly.

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Many of those hard ciders had added sugar or additional fruit for a second fermentation, which increased their alcohol percentage. Most cider purists consider this apple wine. Hard cider, many contend, is simply fermented apple juice -- or, occasionally, other fruit juice. Hard cider made from pears is called a "perry."

By the end of the century, cider sales started to slip, their allure replaced by alcopops, flavored malt beverages such as Mike's Hard Lemonade and Smirnoff Ice.

A comeback

Only a handful of traditional cider-makers remained by 2005 or so. But as craft beer sales began skyrocketing, the remaining established cider companies began growing, too, and new cider-makers began opening for business.

Today, there are nearly 200 American cideries, and they are nearly everywhere. There are cideries in 30 states, with concentrations throughout New England, the Great Lakes states and the Pacific Northwest. Hard cider sales tripled between 2007 and 2012 and grew by 50 percent last year alone.

Samples of hard cider.
(Arleen Ng/Bay Area News Group Archives)

At the third annual CiderCon, held in Chicago in February, America's cider-makers created the United States Association of Cider Makers. The goal of the newly formed trade organization: "to gather and share information about cider production, cider regulations, and cider apple growing, to help members improve their operations, raise awareness, and advance cider in the market."

California cider

As you might guess, given the number of apple orchards throughout this state, Northern California boasts more than its fair share of cider-makers. Two of the oldest are Ace Cider, which opened in 1993, and Two Rivers Cider, founded in 1996 by Vincent Sterne. Other prominent Northern California cider-makers include Applegarden Farm Cider, Apple Sauced, Crispin Cider, Fox Barrel Cider, Murray's Cider, Osocalis Cidery, Philo Apple Farm, Red Branch Cider, Titled Shed Ciderworks and Troy Cider.

Makes you want to try some, doesn't it?

Head for Upcider, the Bay Area's first cider bar. Upcider (1160 Polk St., second floor, San Francisco; www.upcidersf.com) carries more than 90 different ciders created by more than three dozen cider-makers in nine countries. It also serves a small but well-chosen menu of dishes -- including "Upsliders" -- to pair with their many ciders.

For a delicious and locally grown alternative to beer, craft cider may be the next big thing.